CULLOWHEE – Western Carolina University will hold special commencement
exercises in two Jamaican cities in September in honor of 138 Jamaican middle-school
teachers who have upgraded their teaching certification to bachelor’s
degrees in education through WCU.

Typically, participants in the program are teachers who previously completed
teacher certification in Jamaica. The program, designed to meet the needs of
the Jamaican educational system while maintaining Western Carolina teacher education
standards, is supported by the Jamaican Ministry of Education, and through tuition
and fees paid by the students.

To be eligible for baccalaureate degrees from Western, the Jamaican students
attend a Jamaican college for three years, and must complete 14 WCU courses,
including a summer residency requirement in Cullowhee.

Since Western’s involvement in Jamaican higher education began in the
early 1970s, more than 3,000 Jamaican teachers have upgraded their training
through WCU programs, said Malcolm Loughlin, associate dean of continuing education
and summer school at Western. “We’ve literally trained thousands
of Jamaican teachers,” Loughlin said. “We’ve had a significant
impact on teacher training in the country.”

While in Kingston, Collings also will bestow an honorary doctorate upon Sir
Howard Cooke, governor general of Jamaica and a pivotal figure in the country’s
history who played a role as a statesman when the Caribbean island nation declared
its independence from British rule in 1962. Cooke, a former minister of education,
helped build the Jamaican system of education and forged the relationship with
Western that enables thousands of Jamaican educators to improve their teaching
skills.

Speaking at the Kingston ceremony will be Donald Rhodd, Jamaica’s minister
of state for education, while Simon Clark, a former college principal and Jamaica’s
representative to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization,
will speak at the Montego Bay ceremony.

Western first held special commencement exercises in Jamaica in March 1986,
when 61 Western Carolina students from Jamaica made history as the first Jamaicans
to be graduated in their homeland by an American university. According to major
American educational associations, it also was the first time any American university
held an overseas commencement.

Western’s program for Jamaican teachers was selected in 1993 as one of
three outstanding international continuing higher education programs in the
country by the Association for Continuing Higher Education.

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Last modified: Monday, September 22, 2003Copyright 2003 by Western Carolina University